


mad about the boy

by nuka_cola_quantum



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Fallout AU, Implied Underage Gambling, M/M, Underage Drinking, fallout new vegas au, i dont know what else to tag this as lol, lowercase intentional, theyre in a casino u get the jist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 00:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuka_cola_quantum/pseuds/nuka_cola_quantum
Summary: patrolling the mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter. that's why jaemin's glad he's been allowed to go on leave to the new vegas strip, especially when he meets a very cute singer in one of the casinos.





	mad about the boy

**Author's Note:**

> my first published work,,,, i wrote this in three hours because i have so many wips and i really need to get back into writing so i can get those published too!! so this probably isnt the highest quality but i thought it was cute. title is from 'mad about the boy' by helen forest (and is part of the fallout new vegas radio lmao). also this is mostly inspired because i keep typing ncr as nct and vice Versa lmao

the new vegas strip was very… different compared to anywhere jaemin’s ever seen. the way the neon lights made the little street come to life at night took his breath away. he stared out into the street, looking at all the gamblers come and go out of the casinos. jaemin suddenly felt very glad he was stationed at camp mccaran.

another soldier, one around his age, gave jaemin a hearty smack on the back, laughing at the wonderment in the boy’s eyes.

“a country boy, huh? don’t worry, as soon as you go in one of those casinos, the glimmer dies away. don’t get too caught up in it, yeah?”

the soldier boy walked away, leaving jaemin to himself, standing on the sidewalk staring at the doors of the tops like an idiot. he thought about the things he’s read and been told about the old world. how back before everything went to shit, he wouldn’t have even been able to get in most of these casinos. but those kinds of laws didn’t matter anymore, not in new vegas anyway. 

crossing the street to the same casino he’d been staring down so intensely, he took a moment to think of how unfortunate it was that he had to continuously wear his uniform, especially after seeing some of the looks people gave him as he stepped out of the monorail station just ten minutes before. pushing open the casino doors made him push the thoughts out of his mind for the moment.

the pink haired man at the front desk (where did he even get hair dye) looked at him with a smile before taking in jaemin’s uniform. his expression turned neutral and he muttered out a “welcome to the tops hotel and casino.” jaemin cringed at the cold welcome, but it’s not like he didn’t expect it.

fire is hot. mr house rules new vegas. the people of the mojave don’t like the ncr. it was just how life went.

jaemin nodded in greeting with a small smile, and the pink haired man went back to his book. feeling awkward, jaemin walked around the desk onto the casino floor. gambling is prohibited by new california law so jaemin brushed past the blackjack tables, knowing that he’d been taken advantage of if he tried to play without knowing the rules. he stopped at the line of slot machines against the wall, hovering a hand over one.

the soldier sighed.  _what am i doing? i'll lose the whole 50 caps i have if i even try this,_ he reasoned to himself. the other soldier’s words from earlier came back to him. he was right; jaemin had been in this casino for five minutes, and he already felt like he should leave. he glanced up the staircase to where he knew the bar was before his eyes caught on something else.

_the aces theater,_ the sign above the door read. the boy climbed the steps slowly, figuring he might as well check out what talent they’ve got before heading back to the monorail station.

jaemin had expected some bad comedic act, or maybe some out of tune rendition of a song from the old world. he didn’t expect _this_ . standing frozen in the doorway, his mouth hung open as he took in the absolutely gorgeous boy on stage crooning out lyrics with a voice that dripped honey.

there was already a rather large audience seated in the theater, quiet as mice, no one daring to interrupt the angel’s song. jaemin, realizing he had been standing in the doorway for longer than probably socially acceptable, scanned the room for an open table and quickly made his way to the lone table at the back corner.

the boy on stage reached the end of the song soon enough, and the room exploded into applause. jaemin clapped along with a lovestruck smile on his lips. if this wasn’t the prettiest boy jaemin had ever laid eyes on, he didn’t know who was. 

“thank you, everyone! that was our lovely singer, fullsun!” the announcer said with a smile. ‘fullsun’ bowed to the crowd and smiled brightly before disappearing behind the curtains. 

jaemin’s heart pounded against his ribs like a stampeding brahmin. his smiled waned as he realized that he would probably never see fullsun again. sighing, he got up and moved over to the bar, fidgeting uncomfortably as he heard the whispers about him. 

“i’ll have a rum and nuka on the rocks, please.”

"make it two.”

jaemin turned his head to the other voice, wondering who exactly thought they could add themselves to his tab. he gasped softly, and the boy known as fullsun looked at him with a gentle smile before taking their drinks and walking to a newly vacated table. jaemin shook himself out of his surprise and followed the singer to his table.

jaemin hovered nervously, not knowing whether he was actually being invited to sit or not. fullsun chuckled quietly before pushing the other chair out from under the table and sliding one of the drinks to the opposite side of the table. jaemin chuckled as his cheeks pinkened.

“hello,” he said softly, sitting cautiously. he picked up his glass and swirled the ice in his drink carefully, acutely aware of the other boy watching him.

“your ears are very pink,” the singer said with a giggle before adding a quiet “how cute”. 

jaemin’s blush deepened. “you could at least introduce yourself before you start calling me cute, you know.” he focused his gaze on his glass that he still hadn’t taken a drink from rather than looking the other boy in the eye.

“oh?” the boy asked. “don’t tell me you missed my lovely introduction, darling?”

“i-i’m afraid i didn’t, i’m sorry. i wasn’t even aware they did shows here,” jaemin explained. his mouth felt dry so he downed his drink all at once. he scrunched his nose up as the taste hit him fully. “this is like 98% rum and 2% nuka cola, what the fuck?”

fullsun laughed heartily. “well, obviously. this is a casino. the boss man wants people as drunk as possible so that patrons will gamble as much as possible. they lose money in the drink and the game, so the tops wins both ways.” a smile spread on the tan boy’s face. “but i take it you aren’t a drinker.”

“no, i’m not,” jaemin agreed. “i don’t enjoy hangovers.”

fullsun chuckled, holding up his glass. “i’ll drink to that.” jaemin brought his own empty glass up and clinked it against the other glass.

“it’s donghyuck, by the way,” the singer said after a moment of silence. “my name, i mean.”

jaemin beamed at him. “your name is as pretty as you are.”

donghyuck’s cheeks glowed faintly as he giggled and took a sip from his glass. “it’s impolite to not introduce yourself as well, you know,” the singer mumbled.

“jaemin na, ncr trooper,” he stated. “or, as i’m sure most people on the strip would say, ncr scum.”

“well, i wouldn’t,” donghyuck reassured with a half smile, “but you can’t really blame them. we’ve been independent our whole lives and then suddenly the ncr shows up and wants to force us to become part of the republic.”

“no, i get that. i’ve never been a fan of the way the government just forces some cities to join us,” jaemin explained.

“then why are you here?”

“because i had to,” jaemin sighed. “more of the actual good soldiers keep dying at the hands of caesar so the republic has to draft trainees who don’t know the barrel of a rifle from the scope.” 

to donghyuck, the other boy suddenly looked like he had aged a few years in just those two sentences as his face hardened and his gaze drifted. donghyuck frowned sadly. he hadn’t realized some of these soldier boys (and many of them were just that — boys, some not even 16) were here against their will. no wonder he had heard so many stories of soldiers trying to run off with prostitutes from other casinos.

“but i’m glad i got to come,” jaemin said, interrupting donghyuck’s thoughts.

“really?” he asked, shocked. “why?”

“because i got to hear your beautiful voice.” jaemin flashed a bright smile and his fingers lightly brushed over donghyuck’s where his hand was laying near the middle of the table. donghyuck’s cheeks and ears flared a deep red as his breath hitched. jaemin hesitated before linking their fingers together.

“how long are you on leave?” donghyuck asked quietly, staring at the soldier’s hand. there were a few small scars on his fingers and even holding hands like this donghyuck could feel the other’s calluses. 

“only three days. they like to skimp out on the newbies,” jaemin chuckled darkly.

“hey, hyuck!”

both boys turned toward the voice to see the pink haired receptionist from earlier. he seemed a bit surprised to see jaemin and donghyuck talking, but didn’t comment on it. “i gotta lock the theater, it's almost midnight,” he warned.

jaemin was surprised for a moment, but figured it must’ve been late when he came in for the first time, considering how dark it had been outside.

“okay, just a sec!” donghyuck yelled back. he turned back to jaemin with a soft smile. “would you like to come up to my room and talk some more?”

jaemin raised an eyebrow. “by talking, do you actually mean talking? because i’ll tell you now, it might not look like it, but there’s a lot of layers in this uniform and it is a bitch to get on and off.”

donghyuck stood and snorted, holding jaemin’s hand tighter before letting go. “of course i actually mean talking. where do you think you are, gomorrah?”

jaemin laughed as he stood. “i only wanted to check,” he assured, reaching out for the singers hand.

donghyuck rolled his eyes, dragging jaemin out the theater door with a small wave to the receptionist. jaemin gave the man a smile and got a small eye roll in return. 

“just so you know,” donghyuck started, pulling jaemin in one of the elevators and pressing the number for his floor, “i’m glad you got to come too.”

“really?” jaemin said, parroting the boy’s words from earlier. “why?”

“because i got to see your pretty smile.”


End file.
